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News

May 31, 2017

Hitoshi Murayama has been named a Genius Contributor for a project celebrating the 100th anniversary of the publication of Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, reports the Einstein Legacy Project on May 31.

Humans are not the only species to show a strong work ethic and scruples. UC Berkeley psychology researchers have found evidence of conscientiousness in insects, reptiles, birds, fish and other critters.

Feras Fahed Abushaar grew up in Kuwait knowing precisely the damage that conflict could cause. Both his Syrian father and Palestinian mother had lost their homelands to war. The family television blared dire news daily, until one day he grabbed the remote and changed the station.
That moment becomes a powerful symbol for his life going forward — seizing opportunity and helping bring about change. As the student speaker at the International and Area Studies graduation last week, Abushaar told that story as part of a strong statement about UC Berkeley’s place as a force for empowering positive change in the world.

May 19, 2017

Steve Stoute — a cultural force who has built a name in the music industry and as a marketing and brand entrepreneur — brought his savvy to the Zellerbach Playhouse at UC Berkeley Thursday, telling graduating statistics students that “data is the instrument, now go be the artist. Keep pushing the culture forward.”

Then he introduced his surprise for the grads. “Here is your gift today!” he told them, bringing out DJ Khaled.

May 15, 2017

Berkeley researchers found two chemicals in anti-fertility folk medicines that block a key step in fertilization – the meeting of egg and sperm – and may make effective alternatives to today’s hormone-based contraceptives, which sometimes cause side effects.

Michael Botchan, interim dean of the Division of Biological Sciences in the College of Letters & Science at UC Berkeley, has been appointed to be permanent dean of the division. He has held the position on an interim basis since July 1, 2016.

May 11, 2017

Majoring in sociology, studying abroad, joining student clubs, even learning to salsa dance. Natalie Ruiz was eager to see how much she could pack into two years at UC Berkeley when she arrived as a transfer student in fall 2013. Then, three weeks into first semester, 21-year-old Ruiz discovered she was pregnant. “My first thought was, ‘I’m going to drop out; there’s no way I can do school pregnant and with a child,’ ” she says. “I couldn’t envision my graduation from Berkeley anymore.” But this Sunday, May 14, Ruiz, now 25, will receive her diploma from the Department of Sociology, her 3-year-old daughter, Clara, beside her. Not only will she graduate with high honors and a 3.97 GPA, but she’ll give her department’s undergraduate commencement speech.

University of California, Berkeley, neuroscientists have now combined new techniques for sequencing the RNA in single cells with detailed statistical analysis to more easily track individual stem cells in the nose, uncovering clues that someday could help restore smell to those who have lost it.

May 10, 2017

Taking advantage of a rare orbital alignment between two of Jupiter’s moons, Io and Europa, researchers have obtained an exceptionally detailed map of the largest lava lake on Io, the most volcanically active body in the solar system.

Several recent studies from UC Berkeley have rekindled the hope of curing an HIV infection by luring it out of its latent state, making treatment much more effective. The labs of Qiang Zhou and Jim Hurley, professors in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, have been leading the efforts to investigate this new approach to treating HIV.

May 4, 2017

May 4th is the Grad Slam, UC’s system-wide contest that challenges graduate students to explain their research in three jargon-free minutes. All of the first place champions from each UC campus face off to compete for the UC-wide trophy and gain the attention of industry, academic, media, and government leaders.

University of California, Berkeley, researchers have described 10 new CRISPR enzymes that, once activated, behave like Pac-Man to chew up RNA in a way that could be used as sensitive detectors of infectious viruses.